raa -16-99 FOREWORD In the 210-year history of the Senate, records management has become an increasingly challenging process as the information environment grows ever more complex. Senate records of the First Congress (1789-1791), for example, occupy four and two-thirds feet of shelf space at the Center for Legislative Archives. By contrast, the Senate today transfers to the Center approximately two thousand shelf feet per Congress. The records of the First Congress are paper files, easy to access and preserve. Contemporary records, however, include paper, microfilm, audio and video recordings, and computer disks and tapes. For these, preservation and accessibility over time is costly and must This volume offers guidelines and procedures to facilitate the management of historically valuable committee records. Committee staff are encouraged INTRODUCTION SIGNIFICANCE OF COMMITTEE Congressional committees have been described as the nerve ends of Congress, the gatherers of information, the sifters of alternatives, and the refiners of legislation. As such, they create and collect a wealth of documentation pertaining to the legislative process and all aspects of political, economic, and social life. They compile records that document the effectiveness of agency programs and detail the extent to which these programs carry out the intent of enacted laws. When they investigate an issue, they accumulate an array of in-depth information and develop relevant legislative proposals. They also assemble and evaluate unique information pertaining to the qualifications of presidential nominees. As Woodrow Wilson once stated, "Congress in its committee rooms is Congress at work." 1 This body of information is an incomparable national resource, not only of the Senate's history and role in formulating legislation, but also of the general history of Congress and the American people. Committee records are an essential component of the Senate's institutional "memory." Properly arranged and preserved, they contain evidence of each committee's organization and functions, furnish a complete legislative history of individual bills and laws, and serve as a rich source of reference material for topics within a committee's jurisdiction.2 THE IMPORTANCE OF RECORDS MANAGEMENT Committee records are the property of the Senate under Senate Rule XI.2 and 44 U.S.C. §2118. Committee members and staff will want to establish regulations and procedures that ensure the preservation of these historically valuable materials. To achieve this goal, each committee and subcommittee office should adopt sound records management practices and require conscientious implementation on the part of all staff. Effective records management includes the creation of well-defined textual and electronic files, timely and systematic removal of transitory records, and the identification and preservation of permanently valuable 1 Kravitz, Walter, "The U.S. Committee System," The Parliamentarian, July 1979, Vol. LX, no. 3, p. 123. 2 Senate Report No. 1042, 96th Congress (1980), Relating to Public Access to Senate Records at the National Archives, reproduced as Exhibit X-1. • Establishing a records management policy throughout all committee and subcommittee offices (majority, minority, and non-designated) • Reminding staff that committee-related records belong to the Senate (Standing Rule XI.2 and 44U.S.C. §2118) Creating well-defined textual and electronic files that are arranged in efficient and logical filing sequences and are free of unneeded information • Removing transitory records in a timely and systematic fashion • Requiring staff periodically to review their electronic files and move them into appropriate "folders" or subdirectories before copying them to the archival transfer medium Preserving all permanently valuable textual and electronic records including e-mail and special media (audio and video recordings, photographs) by forwarding the materials to the Archives on a regular basis • Authorizing committee members or staff (if appropriate), who so wish to make copies of their files to take with them when they leave the committee; but stress that the "original" records must remain with the committee, and that access to material should follow S.Res. 474, 96th Congress |